Natural hazards · Fargo

Fargo, OK natural hazards

Most of the natural-hazard damage FEMA expects in Fargo comes from drought, and overall the risk is very high for a U.S. community. 3 federal disasters brought FEMA money into town.

FEMA National Risk Index, December 2025 · OpenFEMA claims, aid & declarations

Expected damage

How exposed is Fargo?

Very high

vs. U.S. communities

FEMA expects yearly storm and flood damage to homes and buildings in Fargo to be higher than in 86% of U.S. communities, mostly from drought and ice storms.

Drought22%Ice storms18%Cold waves15%Inland flooding11%Tornadoes10%Wildfire9%Everything else15%

By hazard

What Fargo faces

Each hazard’s share of the damage FEMA expects here, and how that compares with the rest of the country.

Drought

22% of expected damage

Recorded about 92 times a year in the area

Ice storms

18% of expected damage

Well above average · among the top 1% of U.S. places

Recorded about once every 2 years in the area

Cold waves

15% of expected damage

Well above average · higher than 95% of U.S. places

Recorded about 3 times a year in the area

Inland flooding

11% of expected damage

Below average · higher than 39% of U.S. places

Recorded about once every 4 years in the area

Tornadoes

10% of expected damage

Well above average · higher than 91% of U.S. places

Recorded about once every 3 years in the area

Wildfire

9% of expected damage

Well above average · higher than 98% of U.S. places

Lower here

HurricanesWinter weatherHeat wavesEarthquakesLandslidesLightning

Not a risk here

Coastal floodingAvalanchesTsunamisVolcanic activity

Flood risk changes street by street. Check a specific address on FEMA’s flood map, and ask about flood insurance before you buy.

Flood insurance claims

Does Fargo flood?

FEMA's records show no paid flood insurance claims in Fargo.

What’s been done with FEMA grants

1storm safe rooms built

Disasters that hit Fargo

3 federal disasters brought FEMA money here

Disasters the President declared that paid out in Fargo itself: aid to households, or repair grants to the Town of Fargo.

Brought FEMA money into FargoDeclared for Ellis County only

2017

Severe Winter Storm

$4K to the Town of Fargo for repairs

2005

Extreme Wildfire Threat

$1K to the Town of Fargo for repairs

2002

Severe Winter Ice Storm

$1K to the Town of Fargo for repairs

Ellis County has had 24 natural disasters declared since 1953, most often severe storms and ice storms.

About these numbers

How to read this page

An average, not a forecastFEMA’s National Risk Index estimates the damage 18 kinds of natural hazards cause in a typical year, from decades of records and models. A quiet decade can follow a bad year.

Compared by rate“Higher than N%” compares yearly damage as a share of what’s here, so a big city isn’t rated riskier just for having more buildings. Fargo is smaller than a census tract, so it shares the figures of the tract around its center.

Money that reached townFlood claims are matched to Fargo’s own flood-insurance community; household aid to the registrant’s city; repair grants to the Town of Fargo. FEMA’s model follows property values, so a place that recently lost many homes can rate lower than it feels.

Sources: FEMA National Risk Index (December 2025); OpenFEMA: NFIP redacted claims, multiple-loss properties, community status book and residential penetration rates, housing assistance (owners and renters), public assistance funded projects, hazard mitigation properties and disaster declarations. Census tracts: U.S. Census Bureau.